Truths and Betrayals
by Sabishiioni
Summary: Sector Seven
1. Rude

Disclaimer: I do not own FFVII

Warnings: Tissue, Torture

Mindless Babble:

* * *

Rude blinked as he became painfully aware of his surroundings. His flashlight illuminated the still falling rocks once been the caves entrance. Now, the sudden cave-in had made this place a tomb for him and his partner.

The thought of the fiery redhead caused Rude to sit up in a panic. He reached for the flashlight, screaming in agony as he found out the hard way that his shoulder was dislocated. He scooted forward, grabbing the light with his other hand and swept the area. His heart sank as he realized he was alone.

Rude struggled to push down the fear that was starting to cloud his mind. He tried to remember what had happened. They had been dispatched along with Tseng and Elena to check out claims of bigger then normal monsters that seemed to be emerging from these caves. They had partnered as usual- Rude with Reno, Tseng with Elena- and gone on their merry way. The day passed and Tseng reported an all clear in their sector. Rude was just about to inform him that they were on their way out of the last cave when it happened.

What had started as low sounding groan quickly grew to a thundering roar. The two men raced towards daylight as rock fell around them. Rude suddenly found himself flying forward, pushed from behind. It had been that push that had saved him from being buried. But how had that affected his partner?

"Reno!" No answer. Rude tried again but only his own echo answered him. He kept screaming his partner's name, unwilling to accept the possibility that Reno might have been buried under the pile of rocks. Finally, sobs of despair overtook him. So lost in his grief, he almost missed the soft choking sound coming from the wall of rock behind him.

"Rude?"

Tears of loss instantly became tears of joy. "I'm here Ren! Gaia, it's good to hear your voice! How ya doing?"

A fit of coughing answered him. Rude was instantly at the wall, frantically digging with his bare hands. He almost realized too late that the wall was the only thing keeping them alive. A mini collapse brought him back to his senses.

"Ren? You okay?" he yelled fearfully.

A few dry coughs preceded the actual answer. "Yeah, I'm still here. Wouldn't try that again, though, yo."

Rude chuckled through the tears. "Sorry about that; not thinking straight. _Somebody _pushed me head first into a rock wall…"

A faint bark of laughter came from the other side of the stone divider. "Well, excuse me for saving your ass!"

Rude shook his head, smiling. "Thanks, man.'

"No problem." The older man could hear the smile. "So what do we do now?"

"Tseng and Elena know where we are. We just have to wait for them to come dig us out."

A few moments passed in silence before Rude heard soft laughter. He looked up to find a small crack at the very top of the cave-in was allowing them to talk. "Ren?"

"Just thinking about how much this feels like sector seven."

Rude's eyebrows rose in surprise. "This is what it was like for you?"

"Sorta… It was a bit lonelier, though."

Rude snorted in amusement before memories of that day flooded his brain. "Man, I remember pulling your body out of the rubble. You were barely breathing and there was more blood on you then in you. Then you completely stopped breathing…" Rude choked, the remembered feelings slamming back into him; the fear, loss, pain…

"It's okay Rude. I survived." There was a long pause before Reno spoke again. "What happened? I mean, I thought the plan was to just scare them. I would push the button and, at the last second, Tseng would stop it. But then I was suddenly falling, bleeding out from the beating I took from Strife and his buddies. Then I remember waking up at Shinra Med with you and Tseng all freaked out…"

Rude heard the strain in his partner's voice and winced. He knew how much Reno had suffered under the President's rule. Any mission that didn't go exactly as planned was enough of an excuse to have Reno brought into his office and beaten to within an inch of his life. Then he would use a cure materia to erase any visible injury that wasn't covered by the Turks clothing.

Rude would have never found out about these "punishments" if he hadn't playfully slapped his partner on the back the night after, what he though was a successful mission. Reno had fallen to his knees, a strangled cry escaping a throat already raw from what had preceded the beating. Without bothering to ask, Rude had scooped up his partner and hauled him to their shared office…

* * *

-_the past-_

Reno tried to push away from his partner but didn't have the strength. Rude peeled the shirt off the slender body and suddenly felt nauseous. The skin that was hidden by Reno's shirt had actually been glued to the fabric by blood. The redhead crossed his arms over his chest in a futile attempt to cover some of the bruises and still open wounds.

"Who did this to you?" Rude breathed, unable to fully comprehend the mass of pain that had been inflicted on his partner.

"Can't tell you. Can we just pretend you never saw this, yo?" Reno asked, staring at the floor. He didn't want his partner to see how humiliated he really was.

"No. Why can't you tell me?" Rude asked, irritated that Reno wasn't telling him anything.

The normally loud and obnoxious voice barely rose above a whisper. "He'll kill you…"

A scowl darkened already dark features. "Who?"

Reno shook his head, eyes widening in fear for, not of, his partner. "NO! I can't! He'll kill you and…"

Rude pulled his hyperventilating partner into a gentle hug. He felt his heart break as the body he held was wracked with sobs; slender hands that could easily break a full grown man's neck without a thought clinging to the dark fabric of Rude's jacket.

"He…he'll kill you slow and make…make me watch," Reno stuttered softly.

"Who?" Rude demanded.

Reno just shook his head, burying it in his partner's solid chest, silently asking for forgiveness.

"He'll never tell you." The unexpected voice caused Rude to turn, pushing Reno behind him.

"Why not?" His eyes warned the other man to keep his distance.

"Because the one who ordered this is the same one you're sworn to protect."

Rude looked at the Wutaian man suspiciously. At 5'7", he stood about the same height as his partner but was built more like Rude himself. Short hair that that should have been the same color as his eye had been dyed orange. He looked to be about 20 years old and according to his insignia on his shoulder, he was a class 4 in SOLDIER.

"Who are you and how do you know that?" Rude asked.

"My name is Ji Lee and I was one of the SOLDIERS hired to do that to him."

A growl escaped Rude's throat as he took a step towards the man. A slender hand wrapped around his arm, stopping him. Shaded eyes stared into Mako blue green orbs.

"No, Rude. He actually helped me. Knocked me out before I started to scream."

"That's helping?"

Reno smiled slightly at the incredulous tone in his partner's voice. "For me, yeah it was." He turned to the young man. "Doesn't look like you'll be invited back to the party though."

Ji touched the bridge of his nose gingerly. A pair of black eyes were beginning to blossom, proving that his nose had been broken. "That's quite alright. Didn't know what I was getting into the first place. Brought a first aid kit though."

Rude nodded and the kid stepped forward, closing the door before joining the pair. The SOLDIER helped the Turk bandaged the younger Turk. They took turns holding Reno's arms to keep him from lashing out in pain. In the end, Rude had counted 54 lacerations, 32 bruises, three broken ribs and a possible cracked shoulder blade not to mention the concussion.

Rude watched his partner sleep fitfully on the couch. The redhead had passed out as soon as they had set him down there. Ji had covered him with a blanket that usually resided on the back of the said furniture while Rude left to borrowed a pillow from Tseng. When he had returned, the leader of the Turks was with him. The three men now leaned on Rude's solid oak desk.

"This is seriously messed up, Tseng," Rude commented, watching as Reno curled in on himself. "I don't understand why he even did it."

"The President claimed that the last mission that the three of you were on didn't go exactly as planned. That's all he needs to drag in Turk Reno," Ji said softly, from Rude's left. "He even had special compartments built into the floor and walls to hide the restraints."

"That man has reached a whole new level of low." Tseng shook his head. "The only thing we can do is make sure any future missions go perfectly or, if they don't, make sure we don't leave Reno alone for any amount of time. The President won't take him with a witness standing there."

Both Rude and Ji nodded. The Turks looked questioningly at the young man. Ji shrugged.

"I'll help as much as I can for as long as I can."

-_the present-_

* * *

"Rude?"

The man was startled out of his memories. "Sorry, Ren. Just got lost in thought.

"You asked what happened. We were betrayed…"


	2. Tseng

Disclaimer: I do not own FFVII

Warnings: Self Goodbye

Mindless Babble:

* * *

"Reno! Rude! Yell if you can hear me!" Tseng was frantic. This was too much like that time…

"Tseng!" Elena called exasperated. "We'll find them but you need to calm down!"

Having Elena tell him to calm down was just as good as a bucket of ice water. He stopped and turned to face the blond woman. "I'm sorry, Elena. Thank you …"

Elena waved it off before looking her boss in the eye. "It's okay. Just tell me why you're freaking out like this."

Tseng smiled, though it was a sad grin. "Apparently I 'freak out' a lot when it comes to my Turks."

Cerulean eye became confused. "What do you mean?"

"I guess this story starts out about the same time you were hired…." Tseng started as he returned to searching the mountainside.

* * *

-_the past-_

"Rude? How is he?" Tseng found the man sitting on the floor outside of the OR. He had seen the Turk look better but couldn't really remember him looking much worse. For the first time since he had met him, Tseng saw fear in Rude's chocolate brown eyes. Wait… brown eyes…?

"What happen to your sunglasses?"

Rude smiled without mirth. "I lost them when I was searching… after the plate fell. I already have a migraine from it too…"

"Here, use mine." Tseng tossed the bigger man his own shades. He was one of three people that knew about Rude's sensitivity to light.

Slipping them on, Rude answered his boss's question. "I don't know how Reno's doing. He's still in surgery."

Tseng then did something uncharacteristic for him; he leaned against the wall and slid down to sit next to the other Turk. Looking at Rude, he remarked, "At least he won't have to face the President this time."

The mocha skinned man snorted. "Yeah, we really screwed the Chocobo on this one. What happened, Tseng? I thought you were supposed to stop it?"

The Wutaian sighed. "I did! At least, I tried. I entered the code but it told me that it was the wrong one."

"Where we set up?"

"I don't know. But I will tell you this: if this happened because someone changed the code and 'forgot' to tell me, heads will roll. Literally."

Rude couldn't help but chuckle. "Save a few for Reno, though. I think he'll want to put in his two gil… if he makes it…"

"He will make it, Rude. Have faith in the brat. He has more lives then a cat."

* * *

An hour and a half passed before Reno was released from the OR. Both Turks jumped up at the sight of the pale body on the gurney that was pushed out. Red hair had been pulled up into a surgical cap. A breathing tube was pushed down his throat while IVs were tapped to both arms. Thick white bandages covered a large portion of the slender body. More then either Turk really wanted to think about.

Both men were about to follow when a surgeon stopped them. "I'm Dr. Aki, a Turk medical officer. Reno's going to a recovery room right now but then he'll be placed in an ICU. He's got a 50 chance that he'll make it."

"And 50 chance that he won't," Rude responded.

"Well, let me ask you this, it might improve his odds: Does he want to live?"

Both Rude and Tseng stood there in complete shock. "Why would you even ask that?" Tseng finally got out.

To his credit, Dr. Aki didn't even flinch. "None of us could miss the old bruises and scars, especially not the newer ones on his wrists."

"On his wrist?" Tseng looked at Rude who looked equally confused.

Dr. Aki shook his head. "I figured as much. If he doesn't fight, his chances of making a recover just dropped significantly. I'm sorry." He turned and walked away leaving two stunned and hurt Turks in the hall.

The pair had just started to make their way up to the President's office to make their report when Tseng's PHS went off. He answered it and silently listened to the voice on the other end. After acknowledging them, he hung up and turned to Rude.

"Apparently, Avalanche is more then a little ticked at us. They seem to be attacking HQ. The President has requested that you and I meet them on the 66th floor and escort them to meet with him."

Rude simply nodded and, with one last look back to where he last saw his partner, followed Tseng to the waiting car.

* * *

After making sure the motley group of people and, well whatever Red XIII was, were secured in their cells, Tseng returned to the President's office. The obese man was standing by one of the floor to ceiling window chuckling to himself. He glanced in to the reflection to see who had entered.

"Ah, Tseng ! Isn't it a wonderful day?"

"Sir?"

"In one fell swoop I got so much done. I placed the blame of thousands of deaths on that pesky Avalanche group, got rid of thousands of useless slum rats and to top it off, I got rid of the biggest slum rat of them all!"

Tseng was in utter shock and now was baffled as to who the President was talking about.

"Why Reno, of course! That low born gutter trash was never fit to where the suit of the Turk!" The President turned to Tseng. "Now you can promote that pretty little blond thing that you've had you eye on!"

The Wutain forced a smile on his lips and hoped it didn't look as fake as it felt. "Thank you, sir. I'm sure Elena will be happy to hear that."

"Well, think of it as my apology for changing the code and not telling you!" The President laughed as he turned back to the window.

Tseng really hoped that the other man wasn't looking at the reflection because he was sure that his smile had turned to a snarl.

"Are the prisoners secured?"

"Yes, sir," the Turk replied through clenched teeth.

"Good. I'll have them executed in a few days. You're dismissed, Tseng. Why don't you go take that new Turk of yours out to dinner or something?"

"Yes, sir." Tseng carefully kept his voice even before exiting the office. As soon as he was in the elevator, he was on his PHS.

* * *

-_the present-_

"The first call was to Dr. Aki with instructions to not report to the President. The second was to Rude, to inform him of what happened and set up a guard detail on Reno's room. The third was to you…"

"I always wondered why that conversation was so stiff…" Elena replied with a small smile.

"I apologize for that," Tseng said, stopping to look at the woman. "And I apologize for not telling you this sooner."

"It's okay, sir. I'm just ha-"

She was cut off by a muffled shout. "Elena? Tseng?"


	3. Elena

Disclaimer: I do not own FFVII

Warnings: Blood, Fluff

Mindless Babble:

* * *

The search and rescue team that Tseng had called immediately after the cave-in arrived shortly after they found Rude. It wasn't long after that, that they were pulling the dirt covered Turk from the mountain.

"Reno's still in there! He's on the other side of that wall and I think he's hurt," Rude said in one breath.

"Breath, Big Guy," Elena replied, only half teasing. A medic came over, fitting an oxygen mask on Rude and began attending to the multitude of cuts and bruises as well as the Turk's shoulder.

"But it's unstable in there! I almost caused another cave in!"

One of the members of the rescue team had already gone inside. A few moments later he came back out, confirming what the Turk said. "We might be able to widen the hole at the top of the wall big enough for someone to slip in with Turk Reno. But it'd have to be someone small like you, Miss. Elena."

The blond smirked at the 'Miss.' part but didn't say anything about it. "I'll do it. Then at least I can start assessing and caring for his injuries."

Tseng nodded and minutes later, Elena was sliding through the slightly bigger hole, first aid kit in one hand, flashlight in the other. Upon seeing the condition of her friend, however, she wished she had left the light behind.

"Whatever you're planning, you might want to hurry!" she called to the rescuers.

Reno lay face down with his lower half partially covered in rubble. Thankfully, Elena was able pull him out without too much trouble, although it did reveal the pair of broken legs. The rest of the redhead's body fared only slightly better with broken ribs and more open wounds the she could count. The worst was the fact that Reno was loosing the battle to stay awake.

"Stay with me, Reno," Elena commanded while she bandaged up her friend. "I need you to stay awake."

"I know, it's hard…" he mumbled.

"Tell you what," Elena said desperately. "You stay awake and I'll tell you about my deepest, darkest secret, okay? I can guarantee that you'll like it!"

Reno tried to grin but it came off looking more like a grimace. "When you put it like that…"

* * *

-_the past-_

He was death incarnate. Anything that crossed his path was instantly cut down. Even the Turks had been unable to stop him. Their bloody corpses littered the hall leading to the President's office. The severed head of Jenova was helping the death image as well.

He came to a stop at the sealed door. A soft click and something cold pressed against his neck caused him to stiffen.

"Stop where you are, Sephiroth!" Elena said with deadly calm. "And to think, I used to have a poster of you hanging in my room."

"What do you want, Little Girl?" the silver-haired former general growled.

"I want you to kill that bastard of a president."

Sephiroth turned to face the small Turk. "Wait. You _want_ me to kill the man you serve?"

"Yes, and I'll even open the door for you if you promise to kill him slow."

"Why should I trust you?"

"That man hurt my family. He killed thousands to do it, too." Elena lowered her gun. "In my family, he is the father that hurt my brothers and raped my mother." She was speaking figuratively of Gaia, the planet itself, but Sephiroth took it entirely differently.

"I swear on Mother, he will die slow."

Elena suddenly smiled in a way that sent shiver's up the man's spine. She turned and keyed her override code. The door slid open and Sephiroth stepped in. The last thing Elena heard as she raced down to the holding cells to release the only ones that would be able to stop the former general, were the shrieks of terror from the meat sack that had once been her boss.

-_the present-_

* * *

Reno stared wide eyed at the woman he still called Rookie. His respect for the woman had increased exponentially in the matter of a few minutes. "I always wondered how he got in…" he said in awe. "You do know-"

"That he was just a clone?" Elena interrupted. "Yeah, but not at the time. I can tell you that after I let him in, I ran like Hades to get out of there. It took Tseng almost a week to find me again, I was so afraid."

"I wouldn't have blamed you," Reno said, his voice weak sounding. "I know that Tseng is grateful to you for that... as am I, now."

Elena looked at the redhead. "I always knew that he was hurting all of you even if you were the only one being physically abused. I didn't know until years later what actually happened."

Reno chuckled before wincing in pain. "I know Rude told you, yo- he spent an entire day apologizing to me about it. I really didn't care though. Glad you know…"

Elena saw that her friend was fading and gently patted him on the cheek to wake him up. "Hey, stay with me, Reno."

Mako bright blue eyes fluttered open. "Sorry…"

Elena tried to sound cheerful. "It's okay, Reno. I know how much you like to sleep."

Thin lips curled into a slight smile.

"Miss. Elena?"

Reno couldn't help but to snicker as Elena winced. "'Miss. Elena'?"

"I swear if you start calling me that, I will have to hurt you!" Elena threatened through clenched teeth.

"Elena?"

Both Turks stiffened at the sound of their boss' voice. "Rufus?"

"Yeah, I came as soon as I heard. How's Reno?"

"I'm still here, Shachou," Reno called out, using the last of his strength to ask, "How's Rude?"

"He's fine. Worried about you," Rufus replied, relief evident in his voice. "Elena, we're going to slip a Mastered Materia to you. Do you have anything you can equip it to?"

"I've got my armlet…"

"Perfect! It's a Barrier Materia. Equip it and use it to protect yourself and Reno. We're going to blow the wall and pull you both out."

Elena stood up and moved to the wall where she caught the glowing green Materia. She returned to where Reno lay, his breathing becoming labored.

"Hang on, Sempai," she murmured, using a term she didn't often use for him. "We'll be out of here in a few minutes." She covered the redhead with her own body and activated the Materia. "We're ready, Shachou!"

"Count to ten…"

Ichi… ni... san…. shi…go…roku… shichi…hachi… ku…ju-"

The explosion ripped through the cave, Elena struggling to control the barrier against the pressure of the blast. She felt a tug and suddenly she was moving. It took her a moment to realize that she and Reno were caught in a wind spell. Seconds later, the two Turks were lying at Tseng's feet. He released the spell and dropped to see if they had made it. Elena grinned as she looked up from where she lay next to Reno.

"Nice save, Boss."

Tseng couldn't help himself; he swept the young blond into a fierce hug, happiness flooding his body.

"Would you two get a room or something, yo?" whispered a fragile sounding voice. Tseng let go of Elena and grinned down at the other Turk.

"I'm happy to se that you made it as well, Reno."

"Just don't go hugging on me, okay?"

* * *

Rufus, Tseng and Elena watched as the helicopter holding Rude and Reno took off. All three visibly relaxed as it faded from sight.

"I'm beginning to think Reno was born under an unlucky star," Elena remarked, as they moved towards the helicopter that would take them home.

"Really?" Tseng asked. "I rather thought he was born under a lucky star."

"I know I was," Rufus said, looking at the other two. When both of them returned his gaze with confusion, he added, "Well, thanks to you, Elena, I got both freedom and family that I love."

The woman came to a sudden stop, her eye's widening in fear. "You heard that and… and you're not mad?"

Rufus chuckled. "I've know since day one. You used your personal override code. All I had to do was check the records."

"B…but he was your father!"

That sent Rufus into a full-blown laugh. It took him a few minutes to sober up enough to explain himself. "He was my father only by blood. Reno wasn't the only one to suffer under the reign of my father. I had dreamed of the day I would be strong enough to kill him myself but that day never came because of you. And for that, I too, am grateful."

Elena stood rooted to the spot in shock until Tseng took her arm and gently kissed her cheek. "See, everything worked out in the end."

The three then boarded the chopper to rejoin the pair of brothers at a hospital in Midgard, once again making the mismatched family whole.


End file.
